2026-27 AP ENGLISH LITERATURE & COMPOSITION READING & ASSIGNMENT

Summer AP Literature &

Composition Reading

This Summer, please read Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. The novel is a classic piece of literature from the Harlem Renaissance and tells the story of a young woman’s search for love. In a quest to navigate a new relationship, Janie is faced to learn more about herself while hoping to find her voice and autonomy. The book has been adapted into a movie as well and will serve as a supplementary source for the reading of the novel. Because AP Literature meets in the Spring, make sure that you read the book during the summer and revisit the book before second semester. We will work with the book during the first week of school and use it as a reference point throughout the semester. The movie is available on streaming platforms. Please be warned that the movie is TV-14 and should not be used as a replacement for the book. You should also make sure that your parents are aware that the movie is rated TV-14 and NOT REQUIRED to complete the summer reading assignment. We also have copies of the novel in the Learning Commons! If you need one, please let me know and I will get the copy for you. DO NOT DEPEND ON A PDF! Everyone should have a copy of the book in hand on day one! Your notes must be handwritten and original. No electronic submissions will be accepted unless you have a modification that has been approved.

Say~Mean/Matter, Double-Entry Note Structure in MLA format

We will use a 3 column-note structure in class, but for your summer reading notes, please set up your thinking as follows~

A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry. (If you choose to handwrite your notes, underline the book’s title.)

What does the text explicitly say?	What does this quote mean and Why does it matter?
“Damn my eggs-Damn all the eggs that ever was” (Hansberry 34). Write the part of the quote that is most helpful to understanding what you write in the second column. You may use an ellipse (...) but make sure to include what makes sense. Your second column, the Mean and Matter, should be logically linked to the quote and should be at least 3 sentences. Notice the example is not a summary, but a reaction to the reading. This is the Emotional Impact. **You will use your notes for a literary analysis, so be thorough. You are the expert!	Walter Lee’s response to his wife, Ruth is one of frustration. Once Walter Lee realizes that Ruth is ignoring his attempts to persuade her to go along with his future plans, he curses his breakfast in anger. Ruth’s decision to provide Walter Lee with scrambled eggs after he told her he did not want them, and her prodding to eat his breakfast ignites a firestorm in Walter Lee. This moment provides several pieces of information for the reader: 1. Walter Lee and Ruth are at odds and 2. Walter Lee’s idea for the money is not a popular choice, and 3. Walter Lee’s need for his wife to side with him provides insight about the strained relationship that he has with his own mother, Lena.
	You may color-code your notes if doing so helps!

What does the text explicitly say?

What does this quote mean and Why does it matter?

“Damn my eggs-Damn all the eggs that ever was” (Hansberry 34).

**Write the part of the quote that is most helpful to understanding what you write in the second column. You may use an ellipse (...) but make sure to include what makes sense.

**Your second column, the Mean and Matter, should be logically linked to the quote and should be at least 3 sentences. Notice the example is not a summary, but a reaction to the reading. This is the Emotional Impact.

**You will use your notes for a literary analysis, so be thorough. You are the expert!

Walter Lee’s response to his wife, Ruth is one of frustration. Once Walter Lee realizes that Ruth is ignoring his attempts to persuade her to go along with his future plans, he curses his breakfast in anger. Ruth’s decision to provide Walter Lee with scrambled eggs after he told her he did not want them, and her prodding to eat his breakfast ignites a firestorm in Walter Lee. This moment provides several pieces of information for the reader: 1. Walter Lee and Ruth are at odds and 2. Walter Lee’s idea for the money is not a popular choice, and 3. Walter Lee’s need for his wife to side with him provides insight about the strained relationship that he has with his own mother, Lena.

You may color-code your notes if doing so helps!

Please complete 20 journal entries for the novel and use the format presented above. If you choose to watch the movie, you may opt to create a maximum of 5 entries from the movie; the remaining 15 must be from the book.

Please complete your entries in pencil.

For example~I imagined that Lily would be taller; the actress that plays her is shorter than I imagined. This may sound superficial as it is written, however your understanding of the character’s image is important. How does this impact the way that you now see Lily? Consider this~Seeing Lily portrayed by an actress who is smaller than what I envisioned helps me to see Lily as more fragile than she actually is in the book. She appears to be headstrong, but her smallness creates the impression that she needs to be protected. Setting off on her own and defying her father is a much more impactful choice than I originally thought.